MORE ON BOOKS
My good friend James blogs quite a bit on this site -- actually, it was he who introduced me to it. James runs a bookclub, of which I was the charter member. He comes to my two, and is a valued member indeed. Very recently, he posted a short list of books he always has meant to read, and the list grows ever longer (mine too). As it happens, I spent a day last week reorganizing my bookshelves, storing works I wanted to keep but not necessarily read right away, and off they went to storage.
A writer who did this sort of thing is Susan Hill, Lady Wells, perhaps best known for the ghost story The Woman in Black (1981), the play of which, for two men, has been running in London for twenty years. Several years ago Ms. Hill hunted through the Gloucestershire home she shares with her husband Sir Stanley Wells, noted Shakespeare scholar, seeking a particular book which was not where she thought it should be. Not it, but many tempting others. This set her to vow not to buy a new book for one year, but to enjoy or enjoy again books already in her collection. Her account of this treasure trove was recorded in her Howards End is on the Landing, which I recommend most warmly to all the bibliophiles who may read this blog.
Well, then. From James to Lady Wells to myself. Inspired by my friend James (a nod of thanks and a warm smile of friendship), here is a partial list, in no particular order. I hope it inspires you to do your own!
Charles Dickens: Barnaby Rudge
Thomas Wolfe: Look Homeward, Angel
William Faulkner: Absalom, Absalom!
William Dean Howells: A Modern Instance
John Updike: In the Beauty of the Lilies
Katherine Anne Porter: Pale Horse, Pale Rider
Ramayana
Sigrid Undset: Kristin Lavransdatter
Cervantes: Don Quixote
Euripides: Iphigenia at Aulis
Charlotte Bronte: Vilette
George Eliot: Middlemarch
Anthony Trollope: Mr. Scarborough's Family
At least it is a start, and at least I am aware of their existence. So far, so good.
My good friend James blogs quite a bit on this site -- actually, it was he who introduced me to it. James runs a bookclub, of which I was the charter member. He comes to my two, and is a valued member indeed. Very recently, he posted a short list of books he always has meant to read, and the list grows ever longer (mine too). As it happens, I spent a day last week reorganizing my bookshelves, storing works I wanted to keep but not necessarily read right away, and off they went to storage.
A writer who did this sort of thing is Susan Hill, Lady Wells, perhaps best known for the ghost story The Woman in Black (1981), the play of which, for two men, has been running in London for twenty years. Several years ago Ms. Hill hunted through the Gloucestershire home she shares with her husband Sir Stanley Wells, noted Shakespeare scholar, seeking a particular book which was not where she thought it should be. Not it, but many tempting others. This set her to vow not to buy a new book for one year, but to enjoy or enjoy again books already in her collection. Her account of this treasure trove was recorded in her Howards End is on the Landing, which I recommend most warmly to all the bibliophiles who may read this blog.
Well, then. From James to Lady Wells to myself. Inspired by my friend James (a nod of thanks and a warm smile of friendship), here is a partial list, in no particular order. I hope it inspires you to do your own!
Charles Dickens: Barnaby Rudge
Thomas Wolfe: Look Homeward, Angel
William Faulkner: Absalom, Absalom!
William Dean Howells: A Modern Instance
John Updike: In the Beauty of the Lilies
Katherine Anne Porter: Pale Horse, Pale Rider
Ramayana
Sigrid Undset: Kristin Lavransdatter
Cervantes: Don Quixote
Euripides: Iphigenia at Aulis
Charlotte Bronte: Vilette
George Eliot: Middlemarch
Anthony Trollope: Mr. Scarborough's Family
At least it is a start, and at least I am aware of their existence. So far, so good.
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